Tuesday, April 24, 2012

It’s been just over 3 weeks since Caleb and Lily have officially joined our family and we’ve been fortunate to find that it wasn’t as horrible as we had been expecting (mind you, we had pretty low expectations; and if you ask me at 3 am after 3 night feedings, I may have VERY different opinions on the subject).

Can you believe we just passed their due date this weekend?

Time flies when you’re having fun.

William is especially fond of his siblings, always trying to hug or kiss them, turning the music on their chairs and bassinets and give them “bobbies” (pacifiers) when they cry. Other than William’s new fondness for throwing toys and tantrums, it’s been a pretty smooth transition (considering we added TWO babies to the mix).

There’s been a lot going on with spring birthdays and celebrations.

We had a fabulous Easter. Silly Billy got to go to 2 Easter Egg hunts with cousin Daniel and loved opening the eggs to find out what was inside. He was a big fan.

We had a pretty awesome surprise in our Easter Baskets as well.

One thing we’ve found is that all the days are kind of the same: Feed and change 2 babies, do something for William, rock/nap 2 babies, attempt to get something productive done; repeat.

We wake up and all 5 of us snuggle until we get the energy to get out of bed and get breakfast. This usually involved a baby feeding, cartoons for William, and LOTS of effort on our part to not go back to sleep.

It’s not easy.

As a side note, I we decided Lily looks like a mixture of me and William as a baby. Caleb, I think looks a little like my brothers Arthur and Albert as infants.

After breakfast and BABY NAP #1, we exercise.

Sometimes Liam and I even go on a walk or a bike ride (since running is still a bit much at this point, ha ha ha).

William usually gets a fun outing with Mom and/or Grandma Garff. There have been outings to the park and library, visits from cousin Daniel, and even an excursions to Costco (Billy’s favorite store) and to This is the Place State Park to see the baby animals.

Sometimes, William gets lucky enough to get to play with Dad.

After lunch, we ALL take naps while Steven works (and takes pictures of 2 cute sleepy babies).

After naps, we run errands, do chores, and entertain visitors.

The twins get lots of visitors. Here they are with my friend Katie’s son, Jared.

Below, pictured with their “triplet” friend, Madeline. Lina is only 13 days older than they are, so we figure it will be fun to see them grow up together. Caleb and Lily were sad to see her go.

Silly Billy and I built his first house the afternoon our double stroller arrived.

It was a hit (the stroller was, too. Thanks, Grandma Garff!).

William and Daniel play “House”

After dinner, it’s time to play with Papa.

And Papa’s Truck.

Steve took the opportunity one evening to go meet Ken Jennings.

Then we all get ready for bed. (In case you were wondering, Lily fits in preemie jammies and Caleb is drowning in his size NB ones. We make such skinny babies, lol).

To start the same thing all over again the next day.

It’s been a fun 3 weeks, though we’re really looking forward to this weekend when we are finally going to introduce a bottle to the babies and finally get some sleep.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

I was hoping to wait until Sunday to have the babies, since I had a few things I wanted to do over the weekend, but the babies had other plans. I’d been having false labor all week, and wondered if I’d recognize real labor when it finally came. Saturday morning, I didn’t have to wonder anymore.

My water broke at 8 am. I wasn’t sure at first, since I don’t normally wet my pants, I called Steve to come downstairs and get ready to go. I was making waffles for breakfast, since that was William’s favorite meal. Steven’s parents had recently left for the annual Firestorm Bike Ride, so we called his brother Kevin and his wife, Mary Jane to stay with William until Bill and Karen got back. I called Steve’s parents and Bill had been about to tell us we could watch the ride at the base of the canyon when I told him we were headed to the hospital. It was show time.

Contractions started not long after Kevin and Mary Jane arrived. We had breakfast and then prepared for our new journey, making sure to have one last belly shot:

Still only 44 inches around, with a final weight gain of 41 lbs. That’s 4 inches bigger and 11 lbs. heavier than I was with William.

We also made sure to get one last family picture before we practically doubled in size.

Before I had these babies, I always wondered if the birth would be anything like William’s. With him, my water broke at 8 am, and he was born 32 LONG hours later. I was surprised when my water broke (again at 8 am, no less), since apparently it only happens like 10% of the time. And a Saturday birth again, no less. This makes all three of our kids born on Saturdays. But that’s where the similarities end.

When I kept dilating, I figured it wouldn’t be anywhere near the same…I hoped I’d be lucky enough to make it to the hospital by the time I actually noticed contractions. Luckily I did…but just barely.

We called my parents on the way to the hospital, and had to tell them we wouldn’t make it to dinner the next day…they understood. We texted a few friends/family that the babies were coming, and checked into the hospital as contractions started coming fast and furious every minute or so. Ridiculously AWFUL back labor. Felt like broken-my-tailbone-during-each-contraction back labor. We barely had time to get the epidural in place and functioning properly (side note: I actually refused a cervix check because I wanted needed more medicine in case they told me it was time, as we were expecting a possible breech extraction due to Baby B being transverse/oblique---ouch! without proper anesthesia) before I was checked and headed to the OR to deliver.

I had to deliver on one of those tiny little operating tables. As soon as they lifted me on the table, the doctors could already see his little head without even checking me. It was go time. We had quite the party in that little room…funny enough, it was all girls except for the anesthesiologist, 2 pediatricians, my husband, and Baby A. There were 2-3 OBs, 2-3 nurses for me, and at least one per baby, 1 anesthesiologist, and 2 pediatricians. Somewhere in the vicinity of 10 people, not counting Steve, the babies, and me. Standing room only, lol.

I was delivered by the on-call doc, since mine had gone out of town for the weekend. Figures that’s when I’d go into labor, right? Luckily it was too fast to worry about anything. Less than 3 hours after my water broke, and after 2 minutes of pushing, at 11:02 am, we were greeted by Baby A. A tiny little boy who was less than happy to join the real world despite his quick entrance.

He weighed in at 5 lbs, 10 oz. We named him Caleb Anderson Garff. Caleb (nicknamed Cal, after the character in Steinbeck’s East of Eden, one of Steven’s favorite books) because Steve let me pick the names and Caleb was the name Steve liked best from my list. Anderson is Steven’s mom’s maiden name. A nurse from LA actually recommended the name when she found out we were having a boy and I mentioned I liked last names as boy names and it stuck with me ever since.

After Caleb was born, I had to be given a bit of Pitocin to encourage Baby B. She was less sure about joining us, but decided to venture out head down so we had to wait a bit. The OB had to use forceps to “encourage” her out faster due to a dip in heart rate, but she came out crying. At 11:38, our baby girl joined the party in the OR. Caleb was excited to see her on this side of the womb.

Lily Anne Garff weighed in at 6 lbs, 6 oz. We named her Lily, because she was a spring baby and Anne is after both my mom’s middle name (Ann) and my childhood best friend, Annalisa (who’s birthday is April 10…we almost made it).

When people tell us we have our hands full, they have NO IDEA. Literally, our arms are full of baby.

Both babies were born healthy (no NICU!!!) but with a few minor issues that they had to be monitored for. Caleb had a hard time breathing and was grunting. He was monitored in the nursery for a few hours with Steven before I got to see him again. Lily had blood sugar and was immediately returned to me for feeding. Luckily, that did the trick.

It’s easy to tell them apart (despite the obvious gender difference) due to their face shape. Caleb has a short, square face.

Lily’s face is longer and more full.

And both of them have LOTS of brown hair. In fact, they both have more hair than William does at 2 years old.

We had lots of visitors when in the hospital. Papa and Grandma Garff brought William to meet his new siblings.

William brought his Easter babies some bunny toys…but got confused when he realized he didn’t get to keep them.But left full of my dinner. Good thing I don’t like peas or pumpkin pie.

My parents came to visit with my younger brothers and sister. Since their 3 youngest grandchildren were in the hospital, it gave them the opportunity to see them all during the visit.

My brother Arthur nicknamed Lily, “Chewbacca” because she has a hairy back due to her early birth. I hope for her sake neither the hair or the nickname stick.

We also got visits from Mike and Catherine just in time for their first baths.

And Sunday night we had a surprise visit from Mike Cook and his friend Julie, Donovan and Cortney, AND my brother Daniel and his wife Karalee. It was quite the party.

The Garff Family

Family Photo, Fall 2015

The Garffs Which Whom the World is According to:

We met on New Year's Eve 2004 and were married 2 years and 2 days later on January 2, 2007. We have been married for 8 years. We spent 3 years living in Los Angeles, CA, and then lived in Rancho Cucamonga, CA for 2 years. We are currently living in Salt Lake City. Steven graduated from law school at UCLA and is an attorney and member of the California and Utah Bars, and is currently working as in-house counsel for a supplement company called Basic Research. Steven likes to listen to music, read, and hike. April is a CFO (Cheif Family Officer) for the S.W. Garff Corporation where she manages all things Garff. April is an NASM-certified personal trainer who used to race marathons, but has had to since settle for 1/2 marathons due to demanding schedule of nursing, playdates, and naps. We have the cutest 6-year-old boy named William with the biggest, brightest blue eyes that you have ever seen. Our Silly Billy is the light of our lives---he can always produce a giggle. We have also settled into becoming parents of multiples; twins Caleb and Lily are 3. And the newest arrival is sweet baby Jane, born May 2015. We have a full house with 4 kids, 1 lop-eared rabbit named Dandelion, and a Great Dane mix named Cricket. Our other family includes 2 babies, Kiki and Nike the Samoyeds, and Rita the rat, all waiting for us in heaven.

William

Silly Billy has a smile for everyone and a love of all things boy. Current favorites are superheroes, ninjas, and legos. William is a true California boy and will play in the sand for hours and loves all things Disney. William is a social butterfly and has loved making new friends at school. He LOVES school. Especially science. He is always making us laugh and says the funniest things. And those piercing blue eyes---what a heartbreaker! We miss him when he goes to kindergarten.

Sweet Jane

Jane is the newest addition to our family. She is a total sweetheart. Jane loves to snuggle and be held. She is a pleasant baby, but also likes to do things her own way...she will not do anything unless she wants to. We have loved her being a part of our family!

Caleb Anderson

Born 36 minutes before his bigger sister, Caleb loves to think that he's a big boy. He is a happy boy...except when he's mad, then look out! Caleb is a huge sweetheart and a sensitive soul; he is always doing nice things for his siblings...except when he's not. Caleb gets along with everyone and is a great helper, especially with Jane. He is the best at getting her to giggle.

Lily Anne

Lily is our princess. She is a still a bit of a diva, adding all sorts of demands and drama, but she just wants to make life interesting. Lily and Caleb are the best of frenemies. Lily misses Caleb when they are apart, but sometimes she can't stand to be around him. She's still a screamer, but that's just to be heard when her brothers are around. Lily loves to play in the dirt with her brothers, but usually does so in a princess dress. Lily LOVES having a sister and is planning to be bffs with her baby sister.

Cricket

Cricket is a 3-year-old Great Dane mix, weighing in at about 100 lbs. Cricket LOVES to run. Her other favorite things include laying around the house, snuggling, meeting new people, balls, and squeaky toys.